LU Holds Onto Lead at Davidson Invitational

Max McKay enters the final round of the Davidson College Invitational in second place, six strokes behind the clubhouse leader.

Liberty withstood a cold and rainy second round and clings to a two-stroke lead after the first two rounds of play at the Davidson College Invitational, contested Monday at the River Run Country Club.

Following the first 18 holes of action in the morning, Liberty held an eight-stroke lead over Wofford. The Flames carded a one-under-par 287 to be the lone team in red figures, followed by Wofford's seven-over-par 295.

Liberty's Max McKay was one stroke off the pace, as the freshman fired a one-under-par 71 and trailed first-round leader Garrett Medeiros of Wofford by one stroke (70).

Three other Flames fell just one stroke behind McKay after 18 holes. Robert Karlsson, Stephen Dooley and Chris Watters each carded even-par rounds of 72 to give the Flames the early lead.

Conditions on the par-72, 7,208-yard course worsened as the afternoon lingered and Wofford was the only team able to weather a persistent cold rain and record a sub-300 second round.

The round allowed Wofford to narrow the gap between them and the Flames, as Liberty added 17 strokes to its morning score and finished the day in first place at 15-over-par 591 (287-304).

Gardner-Webb (300-303), one of three other Big South teams in the field, is tied with Francis Marion (299-304), as both clubs are in a distant third place at 27-over-par 603.

Medeiros fired his second-straight round of 70 and is the only player in red figures after 36 holes at four-under-par 140 (70-70).

McKay still sits in second place despite seeing a four-stroke increase from his morning round. The Jacksonville, Fla., native fired a three-over-par 75 and ranks second out of 63 golfers with a two-over-par 146 (71-75). Elon's Jasyson Judy rounds out the top three golfers in the field, as the Phoenix golfer sits at three-over-par 147 (74-73).

Liberty's four other golfers are paced by Watters, who is tied for fourth with a four-over-par 148 (72-76). Karlsson ranked behind Watters and is in a four-way tie for seventh place with a five-over-par 149 (72-77).

Rounding out the Flames golfers are Preston Dembowiak and Dooley, who are in a mix of nine golfers which are tied at eight-over-par 152.

Dembowiak fired a pair of rounds at 76 on the day, while Dooley struggled in the afternoon flight and followed his even-par morning round with an eight-over-par 80 during the second 18.

Liberty will return to the links tomorrow at 9:15 a.m., where the Flames will be looking to fend off the other 11 teams in the tournament field to try and claim the program's first team title since the 2005-06 season.